“I’m a switcher. My main personal computer system is now an Apple Macintosh. It began innocently enough. Over a period of several months after Apple’s new OS X Jaguar operating system was released last year, I tested a variety of iBooks, iMacs and G4s. I was playing with fire.” Read the confession of a Detroit Free Press columnist who switches to the Mac.
Apple’s Looks, Functions Convert this PC Devotee
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
“Maybe you’ve added some non supported cards that the system dosen’t like. ”
Definition of ‘non supported cards’ == anything Apple doesnt sell for a premium.
nuff said..
“Definition of ‘non supported cards’ == anything Apple doesnt sell for a premium.
nuff said..”
You need to shop around, cause you can get plenty of cards that aren’t from apple.
If I was buying a laptop today I would seriously consider an Apple. As I don’t play games on laptops CPU performance and GPU performance are not majorly important. Apples are more elegant and if they are the same price as a comparable x86 laptop I would probably choose the Apple.
In the desktop arena the extra performance available and lower prices of x86 makes Apple desktops look like a waste of money.
I share the same view. I have a 2GHz desktop PC running WinXP, and a 1GHz running Linux. But when I’m “on the go”, I wouldn’t part with my iBook. :>
CrackedButter: Also lets not forget that with Windows Longhorn on the way all hardware at this moment will be useless because MS deem it sensible for everybody to re-purchase whole computer systems again since current hardware will be incompatible.
If Windows XP can run on 3-4 year old hardware, while OS X can barely crawl under 2-3 year old hardware, I think this is a rather stupid reason. TCPA/Palladium is optional, if you want it, you need new hardware, but if you don’t, you don’t need new hardware.
Besides, it hits me that you are willing to buy a new machine, a Mac, for the reason that you need to buy a new machine when Longhorn is released. Ironic isn’t it?
Max72118: Using Windows is like using a stapler. Using Apple is like directing a symphony.
Goes to show how hard using an Mac is. Cause using a stapler is relatively easy and a no-brainer, while directing a symphony requires hours and hours and hours and even more hours of practice, then the stress involved, oh man, I’ll stick to the stapler. At least it clips paper together fine..
stupid user: Oter question is, is the Apple GUI that much different from Windows that I can’t use stardock or stylexp or something to emulate it?
Very. None of Stardock apps allows you to place the menubar on top of the screen, and place the toolbars outside the window ala Mac OS X. You can emulate the eye candy, but that is also hard. You see, unlike Windows, Quartz makes this eye candy feel and look smooth. On Windows, even the menu animation looks jagged and ugly.
CrakedButter: The only people who care about speed are the people who want to measure everything against other people or think they will need that speed and when they find they don’t they come here and try to justify it.
If that’s the reason why, I’ll dump my PC and use a Mac on the double. But for the things I like to do most, Macs just doesn’t cut it for me. Am I planning to buy a dual Athlon MP workstation just to say I have the fastest computer on the block? Well, IMHO, that’s a stupid reason.
appleforever: When will people just acknowledge the obvious? Macs are just better designed. You only have to spend a few days with each system to realize this is a no-brainer.
From the people I know that uses the Mac, this isn’t the case. Better design? They say my ATX casing looks better than their iMacs G3s.
appleforever: It’s MORE IMPORTANT for 95 percent of the users out there.
If it is so important, why is people using Windows PCs? Most of them are either using it for specialized apps (professional and games), or the speed (like me).
appleforever: Nobody is focusing on useability like Apple and it shows over and over and over again.
I beg to differ. Even YellowTab spends more time on usability than Apple nowadays. This goes to show in OS X where common usability ideas are kicked out of the door for eye candy… useless eye candy, mind you.
moshek: A million users people hardly qualifies as “few”.
They do when you are comparing to a userbase with close to a billion users.
aesiamun: does that make me a Gay Hacker?
Why do people think “altenative lifestyle” means gay?
and a Linux user a hacker?
Jodin: they usually come with more built-in ports
You are kidding right?
Jodin: and hold their resale value longer
This is because Apple releases their hardware is slower intervals. I wouldn’t buy a machine so that I could sell it for a nice price 2 years later.
appleforever: Look, there’s certain things you don’t get, can’t have with a mac. You can get those on windows – along with the inferior design of the software in particular.
That is pretty relative. I personally think Mac software, particulary Carbon/Cocoa software is badly designed. You don’t. See how relative is that?
solid: Hold on, the Portege 2010 you are talking about does weigh 2.6 lbs., BUT, it doesn’t come with ANY media drives!
So? Maybe he doesn’t need it, why should he buy a heavier laptop just because it has it? PC laptops differ a lot in terms of features, size and weigh because everybody have different needs. Apple thinks there is only 5 different kinds of laptop users (small screen ibook, big screen ibook, small screen tibook, big screen tibook, super big screen tibook).
bytore: Who said they can’t do anything else? It’s called mulit-tasking… Macs do it all the time.
Okay, just say you a rendering a 3D animation, what do you want to do when all your CPUs are in used 100%? Surf the web?
Safari: since you say speed does matter, when (not if) the IBM 970 makes it way into the Apple Towers, and those machines turn out to be the fastest on the market
When G4 was released, it was the fastest in the market. When G3 was released, it was the fastest in the market. but then somehow PCs always overtook? Why? Two words: Moore’s Law.
Besides, no even one benchmark of this processor that would be in mass production by end of this year is available.
Safari: Give me Final Cut Pro running on a Powerbook, that’s a combination that can’t be touched running an “ugly” PC.
Now, if Apple kept the Final Cut Pro port to Windows, would you say this?
moshek: And this relates to Apple’s design … how? The OS certainly supports it, it was MS that decided not to implement those languages.
MS decided against implementing it because in OS X 10.1, it didn’t support it. Windows 98 have been supporting it for ages, BTW.
Hey Rajan, you have an answer for everything! Too bad many of the answers are misleading, inaccurate, or simply your humble opinion.
What I continually have a hard time understanding is why so many of you Windows users out there are hell bent on putting Apple out of business. The distortion, lies, and fear spread around by so many of you defies logic. With a billion Windows users worldwide compared to 27 million Macintosh users, why do you even bother? What is wrong with a little choice in the world, and why would you want to stifle competition even further in the computing world? You should be happy there are other camps besides Windows. Healthy Linux and Apple communities help foster progress and innovation, and keep Microsoft on their toes. What’s wrong with this?
Now I know why a lot of Mac users are defensive, and some go over the top in defense of their platform. But, they truly feel their platform is an excellent choice, and want to continue using a Mac indefinitely. However, they also witness thousands if not millions of Windows zealots spreading lies and distortions about the Mac platform, which has the effect of seriously eroding market share for the Mac. This just doesn’t make any sense. From the outside looking in, it would seem that many Windows users have a feeling of intense inferiority over their computing choice, so they act like a bully and kick the poor crippled kid on the playground. If the Mac platform is irrelevant, why don’t you just ignore it and move on to your latest gore-fest at 120 frames per second?
The truth is that Mac hardware in combination with OS X is an elegant and productive computing environment, which could easily please many more millions of computer users if they only knew. A Windows computer (which I use daily at work by the way), is also a productive computing environment, in many respects very similar to the Mac. My preferences run to the Mac, because I prefer its elegance and attention to detail. For some tasks, I know the PC would be more effective, but I don’t have needs in those areas.
So if you like your Windows computer, fine, stick with it. But why don’t we all calm down a little and try to do our part to foster more choice and competition in the computer industry. After all, that’s what will benefit the consumer in the long run.
@ “supa”-admin:
“FACT: You can’t win an arguement with someone who buys cheap food, wears cheap clothes and drives cheap cars!”
How smart you are… not — you know, my PC is a lot more expensive than that Apple-stuff and there are more PCs priced higher than the lousy >3% share Apple has… surprise, surprise.
and in relation to the IQ bit: Intelligence is NOT being measured in IQ for decades now. This already tell’s you all about statistics that alleagedly try telling you something on that matter.
Many things are taken care of in a very formulaic and intended manner that is pleasing to a non “computer person” and this alone possibly could be the reason for so many flame wars etc between mac and pc users.
This is so funny. I am working on an OS X unix workstation. The other night I was sitting in bed using my OS X Powerbook wirelessly to ssh into this machine so I could compile and install imagemagick, perlmagick and update some other packages. Am I a “non computer person” for using a Mac? Or wait, you would probably call me an anomaly.
PC Dude you need to get with the program and understand that there are probably more “non-computer users” who choose Windows rather than a Mac. Why? Because it is safe.
Using a Mac makes you no less of a “computer person” than does Windows. You are just too scared. Go ahead tunnel in and make something new happen!
I guess the whole argument comes down to the price. I mean, sure you can surf the web on Mac just as good as you cando so on PC. And you can even find some games for Mac(not too many though). And work on your video/audio editing without having to reboot at the end of the day, BUT there are only 3% of the computer users who are willing to pay $3300 for the second best system (not to mention $4600 for the top of the line machine) which is by no means is superior, in terms of the speed, to a PC that you can get for (ahh let’s go nuts) $2000. So my point is, Mac are extrimely overpriced. There’s hardly any evidence that there are better in anyway, aside from the fact that some people just happen to LIKE it, A LOT. Which brings us back to the posts of ‘sensible man’ about target audience being women and “alternative lifestyle’ males. Don’t mean to offend all those guys out there who bought Macs for work. By the way, have you noticed that lately every laptop that you can see in a movie is a Mac? Talking about Apple paying right and left to sqeeze their ads just about anywhere they can.
Yeah, u gotta wonder why folk like rajan, etc. spend so much time posting their opinions about the mac and Apple.
Ego, perhaps?
It is a good question.
I think it comes down to psychology (but then I would).
There are all kinds of reasons why people bash other operating systems. Often, it’s simply a reaction to the mindless enthusiasm of people for that product. One factor that leads to some people arguing against the Mac is simply that some people who try and “prove” the Mac is better use utterly transparent arguments based only on opinion and not fact, so people feel compelled to respond, and so on. That happens for Windows and Linux too.
Then there is the platform threat theory. Your investment in a platform is maximized when more people use it. Part of the value of Windows is that everyone uses it. You don’t have to think “is this supported” when you buy new hardware, or a new app. You know it is, because everybody uses Windows.
On the other hand, the Mac has a tiny market share. All Mac users are aware (sometimes maybe subconciously) that if more people use Macs they will directly benefit in terms of more apps and more hardware. So they become “zealots”. They repeat the same lines over and over, “speed doesn’t matter, it’s quality”.
That’s a problem, because it’s notoriously difficult to measure quality, so really there isn’t any good answer to it. You can try and show that the product doesn’t have the attributes that person thinks it does, but you might as well argue with a brick wall, somebody who just spend £1200+ on something isn’t going to start admitting faults in it so soon.
As for Linux, well that’s different, there’s platform growth of course but it also has the philosophy aspect. And Windows users don’t care much.
@ “supa”-admin:
“FACT: You can’t win an arguement with someone who buys cheap food, wears cheap clothes and drives cheap cars!”
How smart you are… not — you know, my PC is a lot more expensive than that Apple-stuff and there are more PCs priced higher than the lousy >3% share Apple has… surprise, surprise.
Plenty of money and he still goes out and buys a PC lol 🙂
What all you people should be fighting about is making the game developers adopt OpenGL has their main graphic technology when developing games. So finally I could choose my OS, since porting games would become a lot simpler for everyone.
I’m a Linux, Windows, and (some basic) Mac experience. And the truth is Mac OS just looks seems more polished but after that, I end up going back to my x86 base system to do all my task since I’m mainly a programmer and I just like to play around with every software available on the market. So switching is just a habit for me. Oh and to all you nay Sayers… KDE 3.1 rocks the house, as far as a desktop for Linux are concerned. (With a little tweak of course, nobody wants all those text flying around)